In Toul, Lorraine, French-language proceedings of the musicological conference “Olivier Messiaen in Toul, 1940”—held in 2022 under the initiative and leadership of Jerzy Stankiewicz—have been published.

The aim of the conference was to uncover little-known facts about the composer’s first captivity in the German Frontstalag 162 in Toul, where, on a large field surrounded by barbed wire, Messiaen began sketching what would become the Quartet for the End of Time. The clarinet part was first performed there by Henri Akoka. The work was later completed in Stalag VIII A in Görlitz.

The conference gathered Polish and French students of Messiaen—Sławomir Czarnecki, Marta Ptaszyńska, Iradj Sahbai, and Jakub Polaczyk—as well as musicologists Małgorzata Woźna-Stankiewicz, Jerzy Stankiewicz, and diplomat Jerzy Mazaraki (son of Mieczysław Mazaraki, a Polish prisoner of war alongside Messiaen in Görlitz). From the French side, participants included Marie-Gabrielle Soret (curator of the Messiaen collections at the BnF), Vincent Lamarque (curator of the Toul museum), Pascal Vigneron (cathedral organist), Michel Guéritte (Association Olivier Messiaen à Fuligny), and soloists Maria Sławek, Piotr Lato, Beata Urbanek, Piotr Sałajczyk (performers of the Quartet for the End of Time), along with Thomas Bloch (ondes Martenot), Dimitri Vassilakis (piano), and Florian Peter (percussion).

The three-day program, held in the Toul City Hall, included:

• two days of scholarly sessions,
• three chamber concerts,
• three screenings of documentary films,
• and two exhibitions: one on Messiaen in Poland and another of Bolesław Słomkowski’s photographs, titled Messiaen’s Birds in Poland.

On the 30th anniversary of Olivier Messiaen’s death, a memorial mass was celebrated at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Toul, featuring performances of his organ music.

To conclude the conference, the participants, led by Mayor Alde Harmand, visited the nearby commune of Germiny, about 20 km away, where on June 22, 1940, Messiaen and his companions were taken prisoner on French soil by the German army. The Polish delegation laid a wreath at a roadside cross in tribute to the captured musicians.

All of these events are described in detail in a richly illustrated 200-page volume edited by Jerzy Stankiewicz, published by the City of Toul, the official organizer of the conference.

For initiating the conference, introducing new historical facts about the city during the German occupation, and the overall success of the well-received event, Jerzy Stankiewicz was awarded the Gold Medal of the City of Toul and granted honorary citizenship. Moreover, the Toul City Council adopted a resolution to name one of the city’s streets after Olivier Messiaen.

Jerzy Stankiewicz